


the storm and what came before

by secretfeanorian



Series: We, The Voyagers [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 16:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17267561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretfeanorian/pseuds/secretfeanorian
Summary: Kei’tlya bolts upright, heart pounding so loudly she can’t hear anything through the roaring in her ears. Several long minutes pass before she can hear properly again, and she shudders violently before swinging her legs out of bed and standing up. What exactly she had been dreaming about, she can’t quite remember, but the terror is still clinging to every cell in her body.





	the storm and what came before

Kei’tlya bolts upright, heart pounding so loudly she can’t hear anything through the roaring in her ears. Several long minutes pass before she can hear properly again, and she shudders violently before swinging her legs out of bed and standing up. What exactly she had been dreaming about, she can’t quite remember, but the terror is still clinging to every cell in her body.  
  
There’s no way she’ll be able to get back to sleep now, and she doesn’t bother fighting the inevitable. Instead, she starts pacing the length of her room, back and forth. From the other side of the ship, she senses Khem stir, clearly picking up on her agitation. Wincing, she pulls her emotions closer to herself. She must really be out of it to be broadcasting so blatantly, she thinks.  
  
The emotional resonance of a familiar terror and the sensations of heat and…falling debris, of all things, linger all around her. Despite the heat, a shiver runs up and down her spine. Maybe memories from Ziost? But why the sense that she’s about to be crushed? Her inability to remember her nightmare is unsettling her, more than she’d care to admit. The last time she’d been unable to remember a nightmare that left her hallucinating feelings was shortly before the disaster on Ziost.  
  
It could’ve been just a dream, but she can’t shake the sense that it was something more than that. A premonition, perhaps, of some terrible thing to come. With Vitiate in the wind, it doesn’t take much to convince her that this is the case. She buries her face in her hands, still pacing, and resists the urge to scream. She wants to call Ikra, but a glance at the time tells her that there’s practically no way the other Sith is still awake. And if she is, she’s doing something that Kei’tlya would very much prefer _not_ to interrupt.  
  
She stops pacing, and stands facing the wall, rubbing her forehead. The harder she tries to grab at the memory of her dream, the further away it slips. She hears her own voice; “It’s over. Surrender. Now.” What’s over? Who is she telling to surrender? Surely not Vitiate; she’d never give him that opening. She’d never give anyone that opening. Nothing feels clarified and the dream continues to slip out of her reach.  
  
Eventually, she abandons the futile pursuit. The only thing she’s getting out of it is a splitting headache. Instead, she wanders over to her desk and practically collapses into the chair. When she boots up her datapad, a dozen half-finished projects are staring at her, but the thought of picking up one is strangely unappealing right now. She sighs, then throws it in the general direction of her bed.  
  
Everything seems thrown out of sync and nothing feels right. She knows enough to recognize the Force screaming warnings at her. Something is coming. Something is going to happen. But for whatever reason, any specifics elude her. She chews on her lip as she thinks. The only thing she can do when the Force won’t tell her what it wants her to be aware of is try and prepare for the worst. So…what’s the worst possible scenario?  
  
“Fuck,” she whispers, her voice unbearably loud in the silence. Right, that’s not helping. She stands up again, but her limbs freeze up before she can start pacing. The more she thinks about it, the louder the warnings in her head become until she can barely think at all. What could be worse than Ziost? She knows the answer; Ziost on a much larger scale. But maybe that’s not it. Maybe the Force is trying to warn her about something else entirely, and she’s focusing on the wrong thing. That doesn’t calm her much either, although it’s a nicer thought.  
  
Finally, her limbs unclench and she sinks back into her chair with an exhausted exhale. The nightmare is new, but she hasn’t slept well in months. It feels like a great weight is pushing down on her shoulders and her eyelids feel heavy. Even though she knows the nightmares will continue if she sleeps tonight, part of her wants to try anyway. Maybe this time will be different. Maybe I’ll get some sleep in before I wake up screaming. She entertains the idea longer than she should before dismissing it. If she was alone, she might risk it, but on a ship with thin walls, someone will hear her and then there will be questions. She hates questions.  
  
Her head falls to the desk with a soft thud and she stares at the wall some more. Maybe she’ll get some art for her ship. Compared to her apartment on Dromund Kaas, her quarters on the Fury seem naked.  
  
From the other side of the room, her datapad beeps twice in quick succession, filling the silence and startling Kei’tlya out of her thoughts. She pinches the bridge between her eyes, then drags herself out of the chair to poke at it.  
  
The message that greets her is brief and curt, exactly Marr’s style. _We have acquired a promising lead on the current location of Vitiate. It is our duty to pursue it before it slips away. Do not tarry._ Attached at the bottom is a series of coordinates.  
  
All traces of exhaustion vanish from Kei’tlya’s mind. She doesn’t even bother to copy over the numbers, they’ve already burned themselves into her mind. She practically runs to the front of the ship, grabbing Andronikos and pulling him after her as she passes him leaving the fresher. He doesn’t bother asking what’s gotten her into a frenzy; there’s only one thing that could be causing it this late at night.  
  
When they reach the cockpit, she practically slams the coordinates into the navicomputer. Once they’re in, her limbs go a little numb again. The thought that maybe the warnings had nothing to do with Vitiate has left her mind and she spares a moment to miss it. “This is it then, huh Sith?” Andronikos says from behind her and Kei’tlya makes a vague noise of agreement.  
  
“Go inform the others.” She hears herself say, distant, like it’s coming from someone else’s mouth. “I want us in hyperspace within half an hour.”  
  
“Right,” Andronikos says and leaves the cockpit without even making a half-hearted fuss.  
  
Alone again, she stares out the windows at the stars. The Force is quiet now, but she can still feel it humming uneasily all around her. Whatever Marr has found, it will change everything, she thinks. Then her brow furrows. That thought didn’t feel entirely her own. It sounds too melodramatic; it can’t possibly change _everything_. Even as she thinks _that_ , however, some part of her disagrees. If they have truly found Vitiate, then it is not at all overdramatic to say that what comes next will change the galaxy. If they can finally get rid of him, then a shadow will be lifted from the Empire. And if not…Kei’tlya’s entire body shudders. She can’t bring herself to consider what the cost of failure here would be. Not just for the sake of the Empire; for the sake of every living being and any who will ever live, they cannot fail.

**Author's Note:**

> Why, no, I don't know how to write actual chaptered stories. I just write random oneshots without setting up any background because I don't want to write the annoying parts.  
> :3


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